Senate OKs magistrate as federal judge in S.F.

Courts

U.S. Magistrate Richard Seeborg won unanimous Senate confirmation Thursday as a federal judge in San Francisco, the first of President Obama's judicial nominees to be seated in the Bay Area.

Seeborg, 52, was appointed by the district's judges as a magistrate in 2001, based in San Jose. A Columbia Law School graduate, he had spent seven years as a federal prosecutor in San Jose and 11 years as a private attorney in San Francisco and Palo Alto before taking the bench.

Obama nominated him in August, at the recommendation of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., to succeed U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney of San Francisco. Chesney has transferred to senior status with a reduced caseload.

Seeborg will be based initially in San Francisco but will maintain his San Jose chambers and hear cases in both cities for the time being, according to Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker's office.

There are three more judicial vacancies in the Northern District of California, which has 14 authorized judgeships and extends along the coast from Monterey County to the Oregon border.

Obama has nominated another federal magistrate, Edward Chen of San Francisco, for one of the vacancies, also at Feinstein's recommendation. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved his nomination in October, but Republicans voted against him, citing his work as an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer and some of his past statements. No Senate floor vote has been scheduled.